Discover Three Yoga Practices to Manage Stress

January 30, 2020

Yoga is a pretty popular exercise nowadays because it’s great for helping people get over common stress and anxiety related issues.

Stress is harmful to your health. It only doesn’t involve excessive hair loss but also mood swings, as the body begins to somatize different issues, which is all related to stress.

Migraines, cramps, stomach pain can be taken care once you set your mind to deal with stress with something as effective as yoga. Below, you can learn about five yoga practices that will help you manage stress.

1. Breathing exercises

Practicing yoga means doing breathing exercises. Although in the beginning they may seem to increase stress and anxiety, they can help to reduce them effectively.

woman meditating yoga practices to manage stress

Many of the breathing exercises that are done during yoga shouldn’t be limited to yoga sessions, but should also be done at home. For example, before going to bed or when waking up. You benefit a lot from it and you’ll notice it once you start doing them.

  • Abdominal breathing: Place a hand over your belly and fill it with air. Hold it in for a few seconds and exhale. Do this slowly and without rushing yourself.
  • 4-7-8 breathing: Breathe deeply and count to 4. Once you’ve counted to 4, count to 7. Exhale slowly, counting to 8. Repeat the exercise.

These are two common and simple yoga exercises as well as many others with many variations. Doing these exercises can greatly help you relax physically and mentally.

Read this article too: The Best Yoga Poses for Beginners

2. Mediation

Many yoga practices involve meditation at the beginning or end of each session. Medication is pleasant because it allows you to stop and take note of your thoughts. Doing so lets you relax and gain greater emotional awareness.

When meditating, breathe slowly, making sure to concentrate every time a thought takes over and makes your mind wander. The idea is to focus on the present as long as possible, controlling your thoughts about your present and future stress.

You can meditate while sitting in the lotus position, which can be done while lying down or sitting against a wall. Meditate in whatever position you find most comfortable.

Check out this article too: Three Fabulous Benefits of Yoga for Kids

3. Progressive muscle relaxation

The last yoga exercises help you practice managing stress which involves progressive muscle relaxation. It’s usually done before the last relaxation exercises to unwind the entire body and release as much stress as possible.

Progressive muscle relaxation involves focusing on each body part and scanning the body from head to toe while tensing and relaxing your muscles. For example, you would normally start with your legs by tensing them while inhaling and then relaxing them while exhaling.


Then you can move to the rest of your body – glutes, arms, hands, eyes, and even your mouth by sticking out your tongue. You’ll notice the feeling of relaxation after doing this exercise because it will leave you feeling rejuvenated.

The yoga practices that were mentioned above are very effective in treating stress. As shown, even if the yoga poses are indeed necessary, this set of practices is exceedingly important for you to relax physically and mentally.

Performing these exercises when you wake up or when feeling tense — or during a break from — will help you enjoy the present more and to keep stress under control. Because even if sometimes can’t avoid getting stressed, at least you have the power to reduce it.

Stress is unhealthy and you should prevent it from becoming chronic and being a part of you, following you wherever you go. With a little patience and by adding yoga to your routine, you’ll be able to deal with stress so it won’t take over your life.